Adjacent Words

Dare definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DARE, v.i. pret. durst. To have courage to any purpose; to have strength of mind or hardihood to undertake anything; to be bold enough; not to be afraid; to venture; to be adventurous.
I dare do all that may become a man. Shak.
Dare any of you go to law before the unjust? 1
Cor. vi
None of his disciples durst ask him, who art thou.
John 21
In this intransitive sense, dare is not generally followed by the sign to before another verb in the infinitive; though to may be used with propriety. In German, the verb is numbered among the auxiliaries. In the transitive form, it is regular; thus,
DARE, v.t. pret. and pp. dared. To challenge; to provoke; to defy; as, to dare a man to fight.
Time, I dare thee to discover such a youth and
such a lover. Dryden.
To dare larks, to catch them by means of a looking glass, or by keeping a bird of prey hovering aloft, which keeps them in amaze till caught; to terrify or amaze.
DARE, Defiance; challenge.
DARE, n. A small fish, the same as the dace.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy; "he could never refuse a dare" [syn: dare, daring] v
1: take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission; "How dare you call my lawyer?" [syn: make bold, dare, presume]
2: to be courageous enough to try or do something; "I don't dare call him", "she dares to dress differently from the others"
3: challenge; "I dare you!" [syn: defy, dare]

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation Dictionary of American Regional English

Merriam Webster's

biographical name Virginia 1587-? 1st child born in America of English parents

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (dared; daring; dares or (auxiliary) dare) Etymology: Middle English dar (1st & 3d singular present indicative), from Old English dear; akin to Old High German gitar (1st & 3d singular present indicative) dare, Greek tharsos courage Date: before 12th century verbal auxiliary to be sufficiently courageous to <no one dared say a word> <she dare not let herself love — G. B. Shaw> intransitive verb to have sufficient courage <try it if you dare> transitive verb 1. a. to challenge to perform an action especially as a proof of courage <dared him to jump> b. to confront boldly ; defy <dared the anger of his family> 2. to have the courage to contend against, venture, or try <the actress dared a new interpretation of this classic role> • darer noun II. noun Date: 1594 1. an act or instance of daring ; challenge <foolishly took a dare> 2. imaginative or vivacious boldness ; daring

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (3rd sing. present usu. dare before an expressed or implied infinitive without to) 1 (foll. by infin. with or without to) venture (to); have the courage or impudence (to) (dare he do it?; if they dare to come; how dare you?; I dare not speak; I do not dare to jump). 2 (usu. foll. by to + infin.) defy or challenge (a person) (I dare you to own up). 3 literary attempt; take the risk of (dare all things; dared their anger). --n. 1 an act of daring. 2 a challenge, esp. to prove courage. Phrases and idioms: I dare say 1 (often foll. by that + clause) it is probable. 2 probably; I grant that much (I dare say, but you are still wrong). Derivatives: darer n. Etymology: OE durran with Gmc cognates: cf. Skr. dhrsh, Gk tharseo be bold

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, v. i. [imp. Durstor Dared; p. p. Dared; p. pr. & vb. n. Daring.] [OE. I dar, dear, I dare, imp. dorste, durste, AS. ic dear I dare, imp. dorste. inf. durran; akin to OS. gidar, gidorsta, gidurran, OHG. tar, torsta, turran, Goth. gadar, gada['u]rsta, Gr. tharsei^n, tharrei^n, to be bold, tharsy`s bold, Skr. Dhrsh to be bold. [root]70.] To have adequate or sufficient courage for any purpose; to be bold or venturesome; not to be afraid; to venture. I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. --Shak. Why then did not the ministers use their new law? Bacause they durst not, because they could not. --Macaulay. Who dared to sully her sweet love with suspicion. --Thackeray. The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood, because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why. --Jowett (Thu?yd.). Note: The present tense, I dare, is really an old past tense, so that the third person is he dare, but the form he dares is now often used, and will probably displace the obsolescent he dare, through grammatically as incorrect as he shalls or he cans. --Skeat. The pore dar plede (the poor man dare plead). --P. Plowman. You know one dare not discover you. --Dryden. The fellow dares not deceive me. --Shak. Here boldly spread thy hands, no venom'd weed Dares blister them, no slimy snail dare creep. --Beau. & Fl. Note: Formerly durst was also used as the present. Sometimes the old form dare is found for durst or dared.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, n. [See Dace.] (Zo["o]l.) A small fish; the dace.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dared; p. pr. & vb. n. Daring.] 1. To have courage for; to attempt courageously; to venture to do or to undertake. What high concentration of steady feeling makes men dare every thing and do anything? --Bagehot. To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. --The Century. 2. To challenge; to provoke; to defy. Time, I dare thee to discover Such a youth and such a lover. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, n. 1. The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness; dash. [R.] It lends a luster . . . A large dare to our great enterprise. --Shak. 2. Defiance; challenge. Childish, unworthy dares Are not enought to part our powers. --Chapman. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to C[ae]sar. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, v. i. [OE. darien, to lie hidden, be timid.] To lurk; to lie hid. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dare Dare, v. t. To terrify; to daunt. [Obs.] For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman. --Beau. & Fl. To dare larks, to catch them by producing terror through to use of mirrors, scarlet cloth, a hawk, etc., so that they lie still till a net is thrown over them. --Nares.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dace Dace, n. [Written also dare, dart, fr. F. dard dase, dart, of German origin. Dace is for an older darce, fr. an OF. nom. darz. See Dart a javelin.] (Zo["o]l.) A small European cyprinoid fish (Squalius leuciscus or Leuciscus vulgaris); -- called also dare. Note: In America the name is given to several related fishes of the genera Squalius, Minnilus, etc. The black-nosed dace is Rhinichthys atronasus the horned dace is Semotilus corporalis. For red dace, see Redfin.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dares, daring, dared) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: 'Dare' sometimes behaves like an ordinary verb, for example 'He dared to speak' and 'He doesn't dare to speak' and sometimes like a modal, for example 'He daren't speak'. 1. If you do not dare to do something, you do not have enough courage to do it, or you do not want to do it because you fear the consequences. If you dare to do something, you do something which requires a lot of courage. Most people hate Harry but they don't dare to say so... We have had problems in our family that I didn't dare tell Uncle. VERB: oft with brd-neg, V to-inf, V inf • Dare is also a modal. Dare she risk staying where she was?... The government dare not raise interest rates again... 'Are you coming with me?'—'I can't, Alice. I daren't.' MODAL 2. If you dare someone to do something, you challenge them to prove that they are not frightened of doing it. Over coffee, she lit a cigarette, her eyes daring him to comment... VERB: V n to-inf 3. A dare is a challenge which one person gives to another to do something dangerous or frightening. When found, the children said they'd run away for a dare. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu as/for/on a N 4. If you say to someone 'don't you dare' do something, you are telling them not to do it and letting them know that you are angry. (SPOKEN) Allen, don't you dare go anywhere else, you hear? PHRASE: oft PHR inf [feelings] 5. You say 'how dare you'' when you are very shocked and angry about something that someone has done. (SPOKEN) How dare you pick up the phone and listen in on my conversations!... PHRASE: usu PHR inf [feelings] 6. You use 'dare I say it' when you know that what you are going to say will disappoint or annoy someone. Politicians usually attract younger women, dare I say it, because of the status they have in society. PHRASE: PHR with cl [politeness] 7. You can use 'I dare say' or 'I daresay' before or after a statement to indicate that you believe it is probably true. = I suppose PHRASE: PHR that, cl PHR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dar: The expression "to dare" in the Scriptures never has the meaning of "to defy," "to challenge," or "to terrify." It is always found as the translation of tolmao, "to manifest courage." This is particularly evident from 2Co 10:12, "for we are not bold to number or compare ourselves" (the King James Version "for we dare not make ourselves of the number").

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Venture, presume, make bold, have courage, be bold enough, be not afraid. II. v. a. Brave, defy, challenge.

Moby Thesaurus

affront, aim to, assume, attempt, attempt to, battle cry, be a man, beard, bid defiance, bid to combat, brave, breast, bring before, bring forward, bring up, call out, cartel, challenge, chance, change, confront, confront with, court destruction, dare to, defi, defy, defy danger, deride, double dare, double-dare, encounter, envisage, face, face out, face up to, face with, forget the odds, front, gage, gage of battle, gamble, gauntlet, get fresh, get smart, glove, have a nerve, have the cheek, have the gall, have the guts, have the nerve, hazard, hold in contempt, lay before, make bold, make bold to, make free, meet, meet squarely, outdare, outface, place before, play with fire, present to, presume, pretend, pretend to, provocation, provoke, put it to, rebel yell, ridicule, risk, run the chance, run the risk, scream defiance, seek to, set before, show fight, stare down, stem, strive to, study to, stump, take a chance, take chances, take liberties, take the liberty, taunt, tempt Providence, try and, try to, ultimatum, venture, venture to, war cry, war whoop